The lawyer who defended Jian Ghomeshi in his sexual assault case says she has avoided weighing in on the movement because she was afraid of not being carefully heard.

Criminal lawyer Marie Henein is speaking out on the recent MeToo movement for the first time tonight, calling it “a necessary social awakening.”

Henein says she has avoided weighing in on the movement stemming from sexual assault allegations ensnaring high-profile figures because she has feared not being carefully heard in a sea of voices.

Her comments come at a debate hosted by lawyer Kim Stanton at the University of Toronto’s Hart House.

The talk is being hosted months after Hollywood titan Harvey Weinstein was accused of sexual misbehaviour by dozens of women. It triggered further allegations about stars such as Louis C.K., James Franco and Canadian politicians Patrick Brown and Kent Hehr.

Long before the allegations, Henein was in the spotlight for representing disgraced former CBC host Jian Ghomeshi in his sexual assault case.

Many accused her of betraying women because of her defence strategy and aggressive questioning of women who testified against Ghomeshi.

Prior to the Ghomeshi case, she represented former Ontario attorney general Michael Bryant in 2009 when he faced criminal negligence charges in connection with the death of cyclist Darcy Sheppard.